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Lunenburg planners, solar firm ironing out utility issues

By Katina Caraganis , kcaraganis@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
04/30/2014 07:52:11 AM EDT

LUNENBURG -- The Planning Board and an out-of-state solar developer have reached a tentative agreement for four utility poles after concern was raised by residents that the utility wires would not be buried underground, as previously approved by the board.

The solar farm, located off of Pleasant Street, was designed by Maryland-based EPG Solar, but was then sold to NuGen Capital, which has been working to build the project for months.

When the plans were approved, the Planning Board, in its findings and directives, said all utility lines must be buried. Representatives from EPG Solar said at the time that it would not be a problem, but neighbors recently began to complain when utility poles began going up on the property.

Eric Aubrey, of Gehrlicher Solar American Corp., the contractor, told the Planning Board earlier this month it is not feasible for the lines to be buried and must be aboveground.

Planning Board Chairman Joanna Bilotta-Simeone said the project's special-permit conditions stipulate no wires can be aboveground, and she would not support changing that option.

Aubrey said at the present time, it is not cost-effective for NuGen Capital put the lines underground.

Representatives from NuGen Capital and Unitil were before the Planning Board on Monday night, Bilotta-Simeone said.

"They already took the pole down," she said. "The pole should never have been in the middle of the field.

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She said it's likely a miscommunication happened when ownership transferred from EPG Solar to NuGen Capital. She said it was never articulated to Unitil by the previous owner that Unitil's wires must all be underground, as well as any other power lines related to the project.

"You have Unitil, NuGen and the construction company," she said. "They all had their balls to run with. Nobody knew what EPG had given Unitil. For all NuGen knew, everything with Unitil was all set."

NuGen was supposed to have the project up and running by June 30, she said, but the board authorized a six-month extension Monday night, saying it would be impossible to get everything done by June 30 given the new developments.

"There is no way to order everything, design it and implement it by the end of June," Bilotta-Simeone said.

She said the four poles will be installed within the tree line, and the developer will work with the neighbors to ensure that proper screening is put in around the poles.

Each pole does something different, she said, and some of those functions can have underground wiring, and others have never been done by Unitil before.

One pole brings the project up and online, and another is for monitoring devices and security cameras, she said. Both of those will have underground wires, as ordered by the board.

However, separate poles for charging stations and another that services the generator will not immediately have underground wires when the project is operational because Unitil had never done something like that before, she said, and the company needs time to research it more thoroughly.

"They're putting all four poles up," she said. "The solar field is up and running by June 30, which is the cutoff to get on the grid. Then, Unitil will go back and design the whole underground aspect. They have to order the equipment, but now they can do two underground and two aboveground. I feel bad because it's such a hot topic to begin with. It was just the old developer was gone and the new one came in. There's just a lot of people involved in the whole things."

Now, NuGen Capital will have until Dec. 29 to make sure all utility wires are underground, she said.

"They have six months to come in front of us with the plan that if they can't go underground, what their alternative will be," she said. "Everyone's goal is to work hard and come up with the best solution. Right now, Unitil is saying they aren't sure if they have the right equipment to do that right now."

If the plans have to be modified, a public hearing will be held so the abutters can hear what the proposed changes are, she said.

A message left for Aubrey at his office Tuesday afternoon was not immediately returned.

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